Her Story
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Entering Politics Amid a National Crisis
It was Korea’s 1997 financial crisis that propelled Park Geun-hye to enter politics. Short of foreign currency, Korea had to ask the IMF to rescue it from insolvency for the first time in its history.
Park Geun-hye felt that she could not stand by and watch the nation collapse after so many Koreans had sacrificed to build and maintain it. She resolved to devote the rest of her life to the country.
She ran for a National Assembly seat from the Dalseong district of Daegu in the 1998 by-election. Though considered an underdog in the beginning, she won the election with a whopping 61 percent of the votes by winning hearts and minds through visits to virtually every home. Park Geun-hye continued to serve in the National Assembly for five straight terms until 2012.
Park Geun-hye felt that she could not stand by and watch the nation collapse after so many Koreans had sacrificed to build and maintain it. She resolved to devote the rest of her life to the country.
She ran for a National Assembly seat from the Dalseong district of Daegu in the 1998 by-election. Though considered an underdog in the beginning, she won the election with a whopping 61 percent of the votes by winning hearts and minds through visits to virtually every home. Park Geun-hye continued to serve in the National Assembly for five straight terms until 2012.
